Grasses and How to Grow Them in North America (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1910 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES WHICH APPLY TO THE GROWING OF GRASSES. In discussing the question of grasses and how to grow them it is quite impossible to lay down any hard and fast rules which will be applicable in all instances and without variation, owing to the differences in method called for by a difference in the conditions which relate to growth. This difference may arise from variations in soils, in climates, in the rotations practiced, and also from various other causes, including the various uses for which they are grown. To illustrate: --while it may be advantageous to bury grass seeds to a considerable depth in certain soils, it may be equally advantageous to sow them on the surface in other soils. While the best results may be obtained from sowing some grasses in the spring in certain climates, to secure equal results in certain other climates, it would be necessary to sow them in the fall. Again, while in some instances a stand of certain grasses can only be obtained after a crop which puts humus in the soil, under other conditions an equally good stand may be obtained by sowing them, almost anywhere in the rotation, and while it may be eminently proper to sow certain grasses with but scant thickness, to grow seed crops it may be equally proper to sow them quite thickly when the object is to provide pasture for sheep. Differences of treatment equally striking also arise in the laying down of permanent pastures and in the management of the same. In some localities the best permanent pastures consist of a single grass. In others, the pastures are improved as the number of the properly selected grasses grown in them is increased. The fact remains, nevertheless, that there are certain principles which will be found so frequently applicable when ap..